Never Again
by Papillon23
Summary: When Olivia is late to work, Elliot has a strange feeling. Olivia's been kidnapped, and now it's a race to the finish to see if they can save her. There's no guaruntee anyone will make it out alive, especially Olivia. A bit OE, not really romantic. Please


_In the criminal justice system, sexually based offenses are considered especially heinous. In New York City, the dedicated detectives who investigate these vicious felonies are members of an elite squad known as the Special Victims Unit. These are there stories. _

**Special Victims Unit**

**Squad Room**

**June 6, 2005 8:45 am**

Captain Cragen strode out of his office and into the morning rush of the SVU squad room.

"Elliot," he called, approaching Detective Stabler at his desk. "Have you seen Olivia yet?"

Stabler looked up and opened his mouth to answer, but at that moment the phone beside him jangled to life, releasing a piercing sound as it rang. "That's probably her now," he said, picking up the phone.

"Stabler," he stated into the mouthpiece.

"Elliot, it's Olivia. Tell Cragen I can't come in to work today," she said, sounding distracted.

"What's wrong?" Stabler asked, a confused and concerned look on his face.

"I just-something came up. I got to go." The connection was broken with a click as she hung up the phone.

"Where is she?" Cragen asked.

"She said 'something came up,'" Elliot answered. "I don't know. I just got a weird feeling. Can I go make sure she's alright?"

"Fine, just make it quick. We need to get a statement from that witness before she changes her mind."

"I'll be back," he replied, putting on his coat and hurrying out of the station house. This wasn't like Olivia; she hardly missed work no matter how sick she was, and when she did, it was for a better reason than '_something came up'. _

Detective Stabler knocked on the door to Olivia's apartment, but no answer came. He knocked again, harder this time, and the door creaked open on its own. Out of a mixture of instinct and training, Elliot drew his gun and cautiously entered the room.

The apartment was ransacked; furniture had been overturned and at least one lamp lay broken on the floor. Stabler's heart rate accelerated and his nerves peaked as he ventured deeper into the apartment.

"Olivia?" he called, but there was no reply, not that he had expected one. He searched room after room, and with each empty space, his heart sank deeper. Finally, with no more rooms to search, he knew the terrifying truth. Olivia had been abducted.

CSU dusted the room for prints, but found nothing. Elliot stepped outside the apartment into the hallway to speak to Captain Cragen.

"Have they found anything?" Cragen asked.

"No. We're going to need to question her neighbors, see if they saw or heard anything," Stabler replied.

The door to the apartment across the hall opened, and a lady of about thirty walked out, approaching Detective Stabler and Captain Cragen.

"Excuse me, is either of you a Detective Stabler?" she asked, looking between the two of them.

"That's me. How can I help you?" Elliot asked.

She looked at him, then handed him an official looking, large yellow envelope, saying, "A man told me to give this to a Detective Stabler when the police arrived. I didn't understand, but he told me to just take it, so I did."

"Did you get a good look at the man?" Cragen asked sharply.

"Yes," she replied, "He was about my age, mid thirties. He had a hood on, so I didn't get a good look at his face. But I did notice that he had thick, black-rimmed glasses and a thin smile. He looked somewhat creepy if you ask me."

"We're going to need you to talk to a sketch artist down at the station," Stabler said, leading her to one of the other detectives.

He then turned to Cragen and opened the yellow envelope, dumping the contents into his hand. There were two things: the first was a tape recorder, and the second was Olivia's detective shield. Anger and fear swelled within Elliot. He clenched the shield tighter, his knuckles turning white from the strain.

Cragen put a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "We should take the recorder down to the precinct and have Huang interpret it, see what we can get out of it," he said, kindly but firmly.

Elliot didn't reply, leading the way back to the station house. Dr. Huang arrived moments after they did.

"They told me to come immediately. What's the rush?" he asked, walking towards Munch, Fin, Elliot, and Cragen.

"Olivia was abducted. All we've got is this tape recorder he left with a neighbor," Cragen answered, showing it to Huang.

"Have you listened to it yet?" Huang asked hurriedly.

"No. That's why we called you in," said Cragen, leading them into one of the incidence rooms.

They all took seats around the table. Elliot placed the tape recorder in the center and, after a moment's hesitation, pressed play.

A cool, male voice erupted form the recorder. The detectives listened intently, the voice sending involuntary shivers down their spines.

"Hello, Elliot. Hello, also, to whatever other detectives and psychiatrists you have assembled to interpret this case. But there presence is unimportant. It is your presence that matters most. I'm sure you'll be glad to know that Olivia is not currently suffering from any major injuries. There are a few minor ones, but that is simply because she put up a fight. A hell of a fight it was, too. Good thing I had my partner, or she may have won the battle. I'm sure you know what it's like to have a partner who has your back. I was careful, though; I didn't want to mess up her pretty littler features."

There was a short pause on the tape. Elliot clenched his fists tightly, thinking, "_I swear, if he lays a hand on her, I'll kill the bastard…" _

Then the voice on the tape began again. "I bet that last little comment made you're stomach turn, didn't it Detective Stabler? I bet you're wondering why I had her call. Why didn't I just take her and go? Well, it's true; I could have just waited for you to realize she hadn't shown up to work. Then you'd come looking anyway. You are quite the predictable one at times. But I'm not a very patient person.

"Now, we get to play a little game. The rules are this: you do as I tell you, and if you don't, Olivia pays for it. I must warn you though; do not try to cheat, because cheaters never win. Here's your first clue:

_At the place where land and water meet_

_Olivia's soul I'm sure to keep_

_Look for her at the Riverbend_

_Look for her at Green Valley's end._

_A warning, heed this sentence well_

_Be late and she'll go straight to hell."_

The singsong voice he was using ended and he continued in his normal voice, "Come alone. That means no cops other than you, Elliot. You've got 'till noon to figure it out. Oh, and Elliot, Olivia looks really hot today. You would've loved the ensemble she picked out."

The recorder clicked to a stop, and Elliot let out an involuntary, "Bastard."

Cragen looked at Elliot, who avoided him by turning to Huang and saying, "So what do you make of him? Sounds like he's done this before, if you ask me."

"Normally, I'd agree with you," he replied, "but I think this is his first time breaking a law of any sort. My guess is he's been planning this for a long time, possibly even years."

"So, why Olivia?" Munch asked.

"It's not just Olivia he's targeting. It's Elliot _and_ Olivia."

"How do you figure?" Cragen asked curiously.

"He referred to Olivia in a way that a sexual predator might, then questioned Elliot's emotions, predicting you anger," he said looking at Elliot. "But the thing is, he doesn't look at Olivia in that way. Not exactly. You and Olivia always had a close sort of bond, but in his mind, he's turned it into something much bigger. Something that he resents you for. He only used the sexual references in the tape to anger you, to push your buttons.

"As for a profile of this guy, most likely case scenario is: he never knew his father. His mother most likely neglected him, and in all likely hood, he's never had a healthy relationship with another woman. Or with anyone for that matter. The fact that you two share what he considers a loving relationship makes him resent you. He's probably been stalking the both of you since he began planning this, which could've been quite a while ago."

There was a silent, pregnant pause as they all took in the information. Munch was the first to speak.

"So, basically, this guy has some sick fetish about Olivia and Elliot and hates them for it," he said in his usual cynical tone.

"Yes, basically," Huang replied matter-of-factly.

"Now all we gotta do is figure out this clue," said Fin, rewinding the tape slightly.

They played the clue once again, writing it down word for word.

"'Where land and water meet,'" said Munch. "A coast line, maybe."

"Maybe," said Huang, "but that doesn't fit in with the next part of the clue."

"Riverbend and Green Valley. Street names?" Elliot put in, moving over to a computer to check it out.

"Yep," he said, "Riverbend Rd. and Green Valley Ave. intersect in an urban area just outside the city. Perfect place for a low life with a hostage."

"Let's go," said Cragen, leading the way out of the incident room closely followed by Fin and Munch. Stabler turned to go as well, but Huang held him back.

"Elliot, are you okay?" he asked.

Elliot glared at him before answering. "I can do my job; I don't get to pick the vic, and I'm not going to screw this up."

"I don't doubt you, but that's not what I asked. I just want to know how you're holding up."

Elliot exhaled slowly, angry with himself for snapping; the last thing he wanted was to be taken off the case. Finally he spoke. "I just don't want the next place I see my partner to be the city morgue."

Huang nodded. "Don't worry Elliot. We'll get her before it gets that bad." They both turned and followed the others out of the room.

After about a half hour of driving, the two cars and back-up van had finally reached Riverbend Rd.; now all they had to do was follow it to Green Valley Ave. They were definitely on the outskirts of the city. Most of the buildings were only two stories, old abandoned warehouses with a few dilapidated apartment buildings.

Finally, they reached the intersection of Green Valley Ave. They turned right on Green Valley and parked on the edge of the road. To the left was a building that could've been a house at one time but was now a charred pile of rubble. To the right was an apartment-type building. It was closed, but did not look very run down.

Elliot stopped the car as Huang and back up pulled in behind him. He followed Cragen to the back of the car, opening the trunk and fitting himself with a bulletproof vest. His heart throbbed with anticipation and fear. Pictures of Olivia's mangled body flashed across his brain, but he pushed them back, attempting to reassure himself that she was fine. He had made an unspoken vow to himself a long time ago to protect her; now he had failed.

Stabler walked up the steps toward the front door with his gun drawn. He pounded on the door saying, "NYPD, open up!" There was no reply, so he kicked down the door. Cliché, but effective.

The apartment building was completely empty. There were two rooms; in the first room, which was sort of like the living area, had nothing but a TV and a closet in it… There was a kitchenette and a rusty old bathroom as well. The second bedroom was different in only one way; the walls were plastered with newspaper articles and pictures of Benson and Stabler. The pictures that had been separate were now taped together. The papers covered every inch of all four walls, dating back to Benson and Stabler's first collar as partners. Cragen was right behind him, staring dumbfounded at the walls.

"You better come take a look at this," Fin called from the other room. Elliot's heart raced as more images of Olivia's cold, lifeless body flashed before him.

He entered the room to find everyone gathered around the closet door. A man's bloody head hung from the ceiling, the detached body curled up on the floor in a puddle of blood.

A voice from behind them broke the silence, sending chills down there backs as they all recognized the voice from the recorder. A middle-aged man had appeared on the TV screen. Wide-rim, black framed glasses covered his eyes. His head was bald except for a ring of brown hair around his temple. An oily smile that was anything but pleasant covered his face.

"I see you've met my partner in crime," the man sneered, chuckling at his own joke. "It's nice to have a partner that has your back, but that same partner will stab you in the back as well. Now you know what happens to those who break the rules. He tried to put the moves on Olivia, but we couldn't have that, now could we.

"You broke the rules, Stabler. I'm not very good at math, but there is definitely more than one cop there."

Stabler looked above the TV and to his horror saw what had given them away.

"That's right, it's a camera. Don't bother tracing it, by the way. My program will merely feed the wrong coordinates into your trace and you'll get nowhere. Now, back to your rule-breaking punishment. I told you that Olivia would pay for your mistakes, and now you'll get to watch.

"In the drawer of the TV stand there is a brief case. Open it."

Elliot did as he was told, opening the silver brief case. On the top half was a laptop screen, two speakers, and another web-cam. On the bottom half there were a telephone, a keyboard, and a miniature microphone protruding through the foam like filling.

The recording on the TV stopped as Elliot pushed the power button on the flat screen monitor in the briefcase. The screen instantly came to life, and Elliot's heart dropped into his stomach at what he saw.

The greenish light on the screen showed Olivia, her wrists cuffed over her head and chained to the wall. Her feet barely touch the ground as she was held upright mainly by the chain that ran from her wrists to the wall. A chain also cuffed her feet, linking them to the floor.

"There's our girl," the man's voice said, coming through the speakers on either side of the monitor. "I set up a night vision camera especially for you, so that you can see first-hand what happens when you break my rules. She's been holding up fairly well, by the way. Always the strong one, our Olivia. But the eyes, the eyes give her away. Let's take a look, why don't we?"

The camera zoomed in, giving a close up of Olivia's facial features. Her jaw was set, but her eyes were wide with fear. Her pupils were unfocused, darting back and forth apprehensively. To see her like that made Elliot want to scream with rage. Once again, the voice emanated from the speakers.

"The eyes have it. Don't you just _hate_ to see her like that? It's so dark in there she can't tell where the darkness ends and the walls begin. She probably wouldn't see her own hand if she held it an inch from her face, just as she won't see me come to deliver your punishment. Why don't we test that theory?"

The camera view zoomed out again, giving a view of the full room. A door on the far wall directly across from Olivia opened and the same man who had been on the TV recording earlier strode into the room. It was obvious by Olivia's reaction, or rather lack of reaction, that she could not see the man who had just entered the room. Only the night vision camera revealed his presence.

The man stood feet from Olivia, directly in front of her, and still she showed no sign that she could see him. The camera zoomed in again, far enough to see both of them but still close enough to see Olivia's reactions clearly.

What happened next made anger and hatred boil up from the pit of Elliot's stomach, causing his throat to constrict with the effort of withholding his outrage. The man reared back his fist, punching Olivia square in the face. Her features contorted with the confusion, shock, and pain of being attacked by an unknown and unseen force. She struggled against the chains on her wrists and ankles, but it was useless. He struck her repeatedly, each blow with more force than the last. The unrelenting onslaught seemed to last for ages, each second causing the emotions in Detective Stabler to rise higher. She wasn't struggling against him anymore; she hung like a punching bag from the wall. Before the end of it, Elliot was hunched over the kitchenette counter, his hands gripping the edge of it so tightly that blood trickled from underneath his stark white knuckles.

Finally, the attack ended, but Elliot's anger did not subside. Olivia hung limply from the chains that held her upright. Fresh cuts and bruises covered every inch of her body that was exposed, and probably every inch that wasn't. Blood streamed from her head just beneath her hairline. She fought to keep her eyes open as she drifted in and out of consciousness.

"We've got to get to her," said Elliot, breaking the stunned silence that had filled the room.

"Don't be to anxious, Detective Stabler," said the voice through the speakers. "You still have me to deal with. You must have forgotten the microphone; I can hear you. Now for the next part in our little adventure. There's a car parked outside for you, a black SUV. The navigation system is programmed to take you to your final destination. Since I know you cops travel in packs, you may bring two other cops with you, but one more than that and I'll kill Detective Benson, and I'll make sure that she suffers. Better get moving. The clock is ticking. It's 1:00 right now. You have one hour."

Cragen closed the briefcase to prevent the perp from overhearing anymore of their conversation.

"There's no way we're taking that SUV is there?" asked Elliot, picking up the briefcase and leading the way outside.

"Nope," Cragen answered, right behind him, "we just need to get the location from its navigational system."

Fin, Munch, Huang, and the backup team stepped outside just behind Cragen and Elliot. No sooner had one of the cops closed the door than a huge explosion erupted, causing everyone to fall to the ground, throwing their hands over their heads as a means of protection. Another explosion followed and the heat from the flames nicked at the necks of all in the proximity.

After a moment, when they thought it was safe, Detectives Stabler, Munch, Fin, and Captain Cragen stood to see the source of the eruptions. The two cars they had driven here in were in flames, the smell of charred metal wafting down the street.

"I guess we take the SUV," said Cragen.

"First we have to decide who's coming with me. We don't want a re-run of what we saw in there; I say we follow his rules."

"It wouldn't be a re-run anyway. It'd be a whole new show," Huang put in. Elliot gave him a confused look. "He said the SUV's navigation system would lead us to the _final destination. _If we broke the rules now, he'd probably kill her."

Elliot's anger and fear finally boiled over. "And how do we know he's not going to kill her either way? How do we know he's not just waiting for an audience?"

"Calm down, Elliot," said Cragen, putting a hand on his shoulder. "We'll get her back alive. I promise you that."

Elliot couldn't even think about what would happen if she… he couldn't even bear to think the word. If she went part of him would go with her. The thought of seeing her in a morgue on a cold slab of metal chilled him to the bone. He shivered, then nodded to Cragen, trying to think about something else, anything else.

"So, who's coming with me?" he asked.

"I am," answered Cragen, "and it may be helpful to have Huang there as well," he said, turning to Huang.

"That's fine. We should go," Huang answered. Huang and Elliot got into the car while Cragen briefed the others. Elliot climbed into the driver's seat, setting the briefcase on the dashboard while Huang sat on the back bench, leaving the passenger seat for Cragen, who had just walked over.

Elliot started the car, turning on the navigation system.

"Looks like we're going to Manhattan," he said, driving back onto the main road.

Suddenly, a phone began to ring. After a quick check, they realized that it was none of their phones. Then Cragen remembered the phone in the briefcase. He opened it, picking up the phone and placing it to his ear.

"This is Capt. Cragen," he said.

On the other end of the line, the man said, "Put Detective Stabler on. I don't like talking to upper management, they're not as much fun to mess with."

"No, you'll talk to me," Cragen snapped back.

The man's voice became angry and agitated. "This is my show, my rules. If you ever want to see your pretty Detective again, you'll hand over the phone."

A pregnant silence ensued. Cragen hesitated, then handed the phone to Elliot.

"Stabler," Elliot said into the phone, his voice even.

"Ah, finally. I knew your Captain would cooperate. Did you like the little fireworks show I put on? I knew you'd try to avoid the car I so politely provided. But like I said, I make the rules here. I wanted to make that clear. We'll be seeing each other soon, I'm sure. Enjoy your drive."

Elliot hung up the phone, closing the briefcase. "He keeps enforcing the fact that he makes the rules, he's in control. Sounds pretty insecure to me."

"That's because he probably never thought he'd get this far," said Huang. "Now he's trying to ensure that everything goes according to his plan."

"Which is exactly what we've got to make sure doesn't happen," Stabler stated.

After what seemed like ages of anxious silence, they had finally reached the spot labeled on the navigation system. Elliot stopped the car, turning the keys but leaving them in the ignition. No one got out right away.

"This is it," said Elliot, heaving a deep breath.

"Let's go," Cragen replied.

They drew their guns and Elliot kicked down the door, leading the way. It was a large, abandoned warehouse with only one door on the opposite side of the room. From his training, Elliot already noticed three cameras strategically placed around the room as well as an intercom above the doorway. He pointed them out to Cragen and Huang by nodding his head in their direction. Cragen nodded in return, motioning for them to continue across to the door.

Elliot once again took the lead, but something wasn't right. It was too quiet, and to simple. His suspicions were confirmed when he crossed and invisible threshold in the middle of the room that acted as a trigger, causing an extremely bright light to shine over the entire room, making visibility impossible. He squinted his eyes, putting a protective hand up to shield his face. He heard a chinking sound behind him and turned, but still saw nothing. Then the light disappeared and, after a moment of allowing his eyes to readjust, he could finally see again.

In front of him, separating him from Cragen and Huang, was a jail-type wall of bars that stretched across the entire warehouse.

"How does it feel to be behind bars, Detectives?" asked the voice they had become familiarized with, speaking through the intercom. "I couldn't have you two raining on our little party. After all, this whole thing has been about Detectives Benson and Stabler. But I'm sure you knew that already, didn't you _Doctor_? Only reason why I invited you two in the first place was so I could try out my new burglary alarm. I guess it works, doesn't it? That's enough small talk. You should get a move on, Stabler. Olivia's waiting."

As Elliot turned to continue through the doorway, Cragen called,

"Elliot." He turned towards Cragen's outstretched hand that had slipped between the bars. "Good luck," Cragen said as he shook Stabler's hand.

Elliot felt Cragen slip a small device into his hand. He knew without even looking at it that it was a micro-recording device. It recorded sound so that, if anything went wrong, the others would know what happened. For some reason, accepting that device was like admitting danger, almost admitting defeat.

He held eye contact with his Captain for a moment, fear hidden beneath the lines in each of their faces.

Finally, Elliot turned away, casually slipping the micro-recorder into his pocket as he did so.

When he reached the doorway, he held his gun steadily in front of him as he opened the door, ready to shoot if he needed to. Of course, there was no one directly behind the door; the perp wasn't that stupid. He stepped into a smaller, office type room. There were two doors-one off to the left and one directly in front of him.

He only noticed the open door directly in front of him because, even though it was dark inside, he could still see Olivia's dark shadow. He flipped the switch next to the door, filling the room with light. She shivered in response to the light, which was a good sign. He rushed over to her, seeing a small pool of blood below her from the earlier beating. She was no longer standing like she was before she had been attacked, rather she was hanging limply from the chain on her wrists, her arms stretched over her head.

The chain wasn't linked to the wall; it was simply hanging from a hook on the wall that was just high enough to prevent her from unhooking the chain.

Elliot ran over to her, supporting her weight by placing one hand under her legs and the other under her back, lifting her high enough to unhook her from the wall.

He laid her gently on the ground, rubbing his hands through her hair. "Liv," he said, trying to wake her. "Come on, Liv, wake up. I need you to wake up for me." Still, she showed no sign of comprehension and his heart sunk further with each second that passed. He called her name again, and finally her eyes fluttered open.

"Elliot," she murmured, her eyes beginning to close again.

"You've got to stay awake, Olivia. Don't go to sleep on me, not yet. Stay with me Liv, come on, wake up." She had already drifted back into unconsciousness, and he heard the footsteps behind him a moment too late.

A hard object pressed into the back of his head, and even without turning around, he knew it was the barrel of a gun. He sat crouched on the ground next to Olivia, waiting for the man to make his next move.

"How touching. I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but at least one of you is going to die today. No, I lied, I _love_ being the bearer of bad news. True love always dies, and I'm here to ensure that. I _hate _love. It's always a lie," he spat, his anger growing with each word. "And you two are just plain sickening!" he yelled.

"What do you want?" Elliot asked.

"I'll tell you what I want. You got two choices, Detective Stabler. You can try to fight me, and I'll shoot you and Olivia both. Or, you could point that gun you have in your hand at your own head, and I'll let Olivia go free. You've got as much time as you need to decide who lives, you or her. But I'm not sure how long your partner will last without medical attention. You see, I got a little bored while I was waiting for you, and I enjoyed hitting her so much before I thought I'd try it again."

A short silence ensued. Elliot looked down at the gun in his hand, thinking that all he had to do was turn and shoot. It seemed so simple.

"Don't even think about it, Detective. The moment you start to turn, I'll shoot you both, and I'll shoot her first so that you can see her die."

Again it was silent as Stabler racked his brain for a solution.

"You or her? Who lives, who dies? Choices, choices. Tick tock, tick tock. Who dies first?"

"How do I know you'll let her go? If I do put this gun to my head, why should I trust you to let her go?"

"Ah, good question. If you don't put that gun to your head, you'll both die. If you do, and supposing I go back on my word, you both still die. Same result; that is, of course, if I go back on my word. But that would be breaking my own rules, and you know by now how much I dislike rule breakers. It's your choice how this ends. Show me how much you _love_ your partner. Make your move."

Elliot's thoughts churned as he struggled to make a decision. There was no doubt in his mind that he would put the gun to his temple and pull the trigger if it meant saving her life, he just wanted to make sure she actually lived through this. What the man said made sense, and there was no other way out that ensured her safety.

Elliot took one last look at her, running his left hand through her hair. Even though she was unconscious, it was evident that she was in pain. It was time to end this. He lifted his gun and pointed it at his head.

Pure fear coursed through his limbs. Never do you realize how much you fear death until it stares you directly in the face. His hand shook involuntarily and he took a deep breath, steadying himself. He tightened his grip on the handle. His finger curled around the trigger.

"Wait!" yelled the man. Elliot lowered his gun in relief and confusion. "Before you do it," he began, "I want to see you kiss her. Not some fake kiss on the cheek either, I want the real thing. Do it, now."

The game had just been reopened, and Elliot saw a window of opportunity. Elliot leaned forward slowly, hearing the man behind him shift to the left so as to get a better view.

Elliot continued to lean in, slow as ever, while at the same time crossing his right arm across his chest, pointing his gun toward the other man. Out of the corner of his eye Elliot looked at the man who was so excited the gun he was holding was off aim, pointing instead at the wall behind Elliot's head.

This was the window of opportunity Elliot had been waiting for, and he took it without hesitation. He turned and aimed quickly, simultaneously pulling the trigger.

Shock was plastered on the perp's face as he stumbled backwards, eventually falling to his knees, his gun clattering to the floor. His hands groped at the bullet hole in his chest as he fell forward, thick amber liquid seeping from underneath him, most likely pouring from one of his major arteries.

Elliot heaved a sigh of relief, sitting on the floor and leaning his back against the wall. He sat there for a moment, breathing deeply, letting all the fear and adrenaline leave his body.

Once his breathing had returned to normal, he looked to Olivia. She was still unconscious, as he returned his gun to his holster and lifted her into his arms.

"Hold on, Olivia. Hold on," he whispered gently as he carried her into the smaller room. Next to the door that he had entered through earlier was a lever labeled "Wall," which he figured meant the gate that had come down earlier. He pushed the lever up with his elbow, and pushed the door open with his foot in time to see the gate disappear into the ceiling.

Cragen and Huang had already gone outside. Through the open warehouse door Elliot saw the flashing red and blue lights of the many cop cars.

"Coming out!" he yelled.

As they exited the building they were swarmed by people. Someone had tried to remove Olivia from his arms, but he insisted on carrying her over to the ambulance himself. There was no way he was going to leave her side now.

Captain Cragen made his way through the crowd and asked,

"Are you two okay?"

"I'm fine, Cap, but she needs to get to the hospital."

Elliot placed Olivia down gently onto the gurney. The paramedics hoisted her into the back, and he followed right behind.

"Hey," Cragen said, getting Elliot's attention. "I'm glad you didn't pull that trigger."

He didn't know what to say, and he never even wondered how they had known what happened.

"See you at the hospital," Elliot said before the ambulance doors closed.

Elliot was forced to leave the room while they examined her, so he paced just outside her door. He stopped only when he saw Munch, Finn, Cragen and Huang round the corner and approach him.

"How is she?" Finn asked.

"I don't know, they're checking her out now. They should be out here any minute."

"Elliot, I need your gun," Cragen said quietly.

"I know the drill," he replied, handing it over. "I.A.B. investigating?" he asked.

"I don't know yet, but they won't have much of a case with the audio visual we've got of what went on," said Munch.

"Visual?" Elliot asked curiously.

"The laptop in the briefcase gave us visual the entire time and CSU was able to get it to record. There's really nothing for them to investigate, but you know how they can be."

Elliot nodded, a little unnerved that everyone had seen what had gone on in there. Just thinking about it made him shiver.

"Elliot, what you did in there," Huang began, but he was cut off as the doctor stepped into the hallway. Everyone turned expectantly towards him.

"She's lost a lot of blood, so she'll be out of it for a while. There's a bit of internal bleeding as well as a mild concussion from what looks like having her head shoved against a wall. She might have a little bit of memory loss, and a couple of headaches, but nothing permanently damaging; she should make a full recovery. We'd like to keep her here for the rest of the night, though, just to make sure there's no complications with the internal bleeding or blood loss."

"Can we go see her?" Elliot asked, relieved.

"Be my guest," he answered.

Elliot led the way into the room, eager to see for himself that she was ok. She looked comfortable enough, and her face was no longer twisted in pain. She even would've looked peaceful if her face weren't covered with bruises and cuts. He brushed a lock of her hair out of her face, tucking it behind her ear.

A phone began to ring, and Elliot turned to see Cragen opening his cell phone. After a short conversation, he folded it closed, reattaching it to his belt.

"Warner's got the DNA back. We need to go run it through the system."

"I'm gonna stay here with Olivia, alright Cap?" Elliot asked. He wasn't going to leave her side no matter what he said, but asked nonetheless.

"Not that it matters what I say, I'm sure you'd stay here even if I did say no. You can stay, just keep us posted," he replied.

Elliot nodded, watching Cragen, Munch, and Finn leave the room. He wasn't at all surprised when Huang hung back.

"How are you?" Huang asked, watching him intently.

"I've been better," Elliot said sarcastically. He paused, wondering how much he should, or could, confide in him. "The moment it struck eight o'clock and she wasn't there, I knew something was wrong. If I had left then, and hadn't waited, I could've stopped this."

"There was nothing more you could've done," Huang said, moving closer to him. "You nearly took your own life so that she might live. You did _everything_ you could've to help her. You have nothing to feel guilty about, nothing."

Elliot nodded again, looking at Olivia. All that mattered was that she was okay. He placed his hand over hers, stroking the back of her hand with his thumb.

"I'm going to head out, but if you need to talk, just call," Huang said.

"Thanks," Elliot said, looking him in the eye. Huang nodded, leaving him alone with Olivia.

She shivered slightly, so he pulled the blankets up over her, kissing her lightly on the forehead. He stroked her hair once more, then sat down in the chair next to her bed.

He hadn't realized how tired he was until now. It was nearly midnight and he'd been running on adrenaline for a long time.

He fought sleep for a while, wanting to be awake in case she woke in the night, but eventually he closed his eyes, giving in to the oncoming darkness.

Elliot awoke with a start, the early morning sun shining through the blinds across the room. A female nurse with blonde hair was leaning over Olivia, who was still asleep, checking her vitals. She straightened up when Elliot sat up, smiling at him.

"Good morning. I'm Nurse Helen. She spiked a fever in the night, so we're going to have to keep her here a little while longer to make sure it goes down. We had to give her some Tylenol as well for the fever, so she'll probably be asleep a bit longer than expected, maybe another two or three hours. Her blood count's gone up, which is a good sign. So far, so good. I'll be back in later to recheck her temperature," she said, leaving the room.

Elliot noticed a vase of flowers on the table across from the end of her bed, so he stood up, going over to read the card. It read: "Get well soon. From all the guys at SVU." He smiled to himself, returning the card to it's place in the colorful bouquet. His stomach grumbled involuntarily as he realized how hungry he was; he hadn't eaten in at least 24 hours and, as much as he didn't want to leave Olivia, he knew he'd have to get some food in his system soon.

He decided to go home, take a quick shower and get a bite to eat, then return here. The nurse did say she'd be asleep for at least another two hours before she woke up, so he'd still have time to get back before she woke up.

He brushed the hair off her face once again, and again kissed her lightly on the forehead before leaving. He pulled his cell out to call Cragen and update him on how she was as he walked.

Elliot sat next to Olivia's bed reading the paper, occasionally glancing up to see if she had awaken. The nurse had just come in and checked her temperature, saying it was back to normal and she should be up any time now.

He looked up again and saw her eyes flutter and slowly open. She looked towards him and he gave her a small smile and folded up his newspaper while she pulled herself into a sitting position. He could tell she was struggling and would have helped her, but he didn't want to damage her pride.

"Don't get up on my account," he joked.

"I'm not; I'm getting up to make sure I can still move." She paused a moment, and he could tell something was on her mind but waited for her to let it out on her own. "What happened?" she asked quietly.

Elliot thought before he said anything, then asked, "What do you remember?"

She laid her head into her pillow, staring up at the ceiling. "Um, I opened my door to leave and two men were there. They caught me off guard and pushed me back inside before I could even draw my gun. We fought, but I just wasn't strong enough, not for the two of them. That's when they had me call you. I would have said more, but they had my own gun at my temple. How pathetically ironic is that?" She paused, taking a deep breath before continuing. "Then one of them hit me in the head, and I was out. I woke up and everything was dark; I honestly thought I was blind. I don't know how long I hung there, the last thing I remember was being hit repeatedly. I can't remember anything else." She paused again, swallowing back a sob. She took another deep breath and asked, in a barely audible whisper, "Elliot, did he rape me?"

"No," came his swift and firm answer. She let out a breath she didn't know she had been holding. She felt the tears threatening to pour, but she wouldn't lose control; not here, not now. She quickly changed the subject. "How long have I been out?"

"About fifteen hours. Olivia, what happened was not your fault. You did everything you could have; you survived, that's all that matters."

Olivia was saved from replying by the entrance of the nurse, a woman who at the moment seemed way too cheerful.

"Good, you're up. How do you feel?" she asked. What a stupid question.

"Ok, considering," Olivia answered. The nurse nodded knowingly.

"Well, the good news is you're pretty much free to go. I just need to check your vitals again," she said, wrapping the blood pressure cuff around her arm while sticking a thermometer under her tongue.

In a minute the machine beeped, displaying the data on the screen.

"Everything's normal, so you're officially released. Here are the discharge papers and, just for recovery purposes, you should take it easy for the next couple of weeks. Other than that, you should be fine."

"Thanks," Olivia answered. The nurse nodded and left the room. She looked down at the hospital gown she was wearing, then said, "I don't have any clothes."

"Here you go," Elliot said, lifting a gym bag off the floor and handing it to her. "Casey packed the bag, I didn't go snooping through your drawers or anything."

She gave him a sideways look and a small smile, her first since she woke up, then said, "Well, that's reassuring."

Elliot smiled in return, stood up and headed towards the door. "I'll be right outside if you need anything," he said.

She came out about five minutes later wearing jeans, a blue NYPD t-shirt, and a black leather jacket. Even though she had combed her bangs over it, you could still see the bandage on her head. Her face was bruised and swollen in places, along with various cuts on her lips and above her eyes.

"You hungry?" he asked her.

"Now that you mention it, I'm starving," she said. He smiled.

"Let's go," he said, leading the way to the elevator. He proceeded to walk in what he thought was a normal pace, but saw that she was struggling to keep up. Without a word he slowed his pace considerably, once again allowing her to keep her dignity.

Olivia and Elliot sat in a comfortable Italian restaurant at a table warmed by the evening sun. It was still nearly an hour before sunset at six forty five, but already an orange glow hung in the sky. They ate in one of the peaceful silences they often shared; it was neither awkward nor full of meaning. Not to say they had nothing on their minds, it was merely the serenity of the shared company.

Olivia sat there in a daze, twirling the same spaghetti noodles on her fork that she had been twirling for the past ten minutes. Elliot looked up at her, concern in his eyes.

"You alright?" Elliot asked. Her head jerked up when he spoke, as if he had pulled her out of a deep reverie.

"Yeah, I'm fine," she said, finally putting the bite in her mouth. She swallowed it, barely tasting it before returning her head back to it's comfortable position on her hand.

"No, you're not; you're tired. Let me take you home," he said, setting his napkin on the table and calling for the check.

She began to protest immediately. "I'm fine, I just …" She was saved the hassle of finding a word to finish that blatant lie as Elliot's cell phone rang.

"Stabler," he answered. "Yeah, sure…She's fine, I'm about to take her home…Okay, be there in twenty…Bye." He hung up the phone in time to receive the check from the waitress.

"My treat," he said, putting down a couple twenties as he stood up, putting on his coat. Olivia stood up as well, stifling a yawn as she did so.

"Was that Cragen?" she asked as he helped her put on her coat then led the way outside.

"Yeah, I gotta go down to the station and give my statement. I'll take you home first, though. You should rest."

"I'll go, too. They'll need my statement as well."

"It can wait. I'll take you home."

"The sooner the better, that's what we were always told."

He gave her one last disapproving look, then agreed, even though it went against his better judgment. Her eyes drooped as she fought to stay awake throughout the smooth car ride to the station house.

She felt the car stop and jerked her eyes open, not even realizing she had been dozing. She felt Elliot gazing her and lead the way out of the car, avoiding his eyes.

The precinct was as busy as ever, buzzing with life. Cragen, who was leaning over Munch's desk, heard them approach and straightened up. The first words out of his mouth were,

"Olivia, what're you doing here?"

"Nice to see you too, Cap," she answered sarcastically.

"That's not what I meant. You should be at home, taking it easy."

"I wanted to give my statement."

"Yeah, I guess it'd be better to get it out of the way. Why don't we go somewhere less hectic," he said, leading the way to his office, and closing the door behind them.

He walked behind his desk and opened a draw while saying, "Good news, Elliot. I.A.B.'s not investigating you." He handed Elliot his gun, smiling.

Elliot looked at him incredulously. "How'd you manage that?" he asked.

"They backed off the second they saw the tape. Said you showed 'moral dignity'. Heh, bet they've never seen anything like it. To be honest, neither have I. You did as good thing though, a damn good thing."

"Wait a minute, you've got a tape?" Olivia asked, stunned. Cragen looked from her to Elliot.

"You didn't tell her what happened?" he barked.

Elliot defended himself, "I would've, but I was afraid she would-"

"I want to see the tape." she demanded, cutting Elliot off mid-sentence.

"Do that," Elliot finished feebly. Cragen quickly switched back on Elliot's side.

"No, you don't need that in your head. You'd be better off not seeing it. Forget I mentioned it."

"No, I have the right to see that tape. I have a whole chunk of time missing, and I'd rather fill that space with something real rather than something worse my imagination cooks up. I want to see it."

Cragen looked at her for a moment, seeing the determined look on her face. Finally he answered, "Fine, but let Munch take your statement in interrogation three first." She nodded and left the room, leaving Cragen and Elliot alone.

"That could've gone better," Elliot said.

"You're telling me," Cragen replied, sitting down and motioning for Elliot to do so as well. "So how's she really doing?"

"She's weak, and tired, but she won't show it. You know how she can be. She's blaming herself for being overpowered, but other than that she'll be ok, with time. She'll bounce back, she always does. The doc told her to take it easy for the next couple weeks, that's about it," he finished. Cragen nodded, leaning back in his chair.

"What about you?" he asked, peering right through Elliot.

"I did what I needed to do, Cap, and I don't regret it. But putting that gun to my temple and getting so close to pulling the trigger…" He paused, shaking his head. "Puts a whole new perspective on things. I've been shot before, and I've had someone else point a gun at my head. But when you're holding the gun, it's like being in complete control and being completely powerless at the same time. Never again." That was all he seemed to be able to say on the subject.

Cragen seemed satisfied and said, "I'll take you're statement now. Let's make this quick."

Elliot stepped out of Cragen's office at nearly the same time that Munch and Olivia came out of the interrogation room.

"All done?" Elliot asked.

"All done," Munch repeated, holding up the official paper and heading back over to his desk.

"Cragen's got the tape in his office," Elliot said when Olivia had made it over; she was walking even slower than she had been earlier.

Cragen pulled the tape out of a locked drawer in his desk and popped it into the VCR above the old, nineteen inch TV.

"You sure you want to do this?" Elliot asked.

She took a deep breath, then said, "Yeah. I'd like a little privacy though, if you don't mind."

Cragen and Stabler both shrugged, leaving the room and closing the door behind them.

Olivia sat down in a chair, took a deep breath, and pressed play.

By the time Olivia left Cragen's office it was past nine o'clock. Her eyes were red and she looked dead on her feet, which was probably a mixture of being extremely tired and of having just seen some pretty disturbing images.

"You okay?" Elliot asked, looking concernedly at her.

She nodded and headed for the door, followed by Elliot.

"Olivia," Cragen called. He pulled a gold shield out of his pocket and handed it to her. "Thought you might like this back."

"Thanks," she said, looking at it as if she seriously doubted taking it back. Finally she pocketed it, gave him a small smile, then continued out the door.

In the hallway, she stopped Elliot with her arm. "Thank you," she said, looking him straight in the eye. He knew immediately what she was talking about without even having to ask.

"It's part of the job," he said casually.

"No it's not," she replied seriously.

"I know. You're welcome," he said, returning her gaze. She looked away and he could see her eyes watering over.

He put a hand on her shoulder and led her to the elevator.

"Let's get you home," he said quietly.

The drive to Olivia's apartment was relatively silent. When they were less than ten miles from her apartment, Olivia spoke up.

"Want to go get a beer or something?" she asked.

"It's late, and you're supposed to be taking it easy. You could barely stay awake on the way to the station house; you need to get to bed," he answered matter-of-factly.

"How about ice cream just real quick," she tried again. He stopped the car, having reached her apartment, then looked at her and said, "You don't want to go home, do you?"

She didn't answer, she just continued to look out her window.

"You'll have to go in eventually, Liv." Still no answer. "I'll go in with you, if you want," he offered.

She shook her head. "No thanks, I'll be fine," she said. She opened the door and got out.

Elliot watched to make sure she got in okay before he drove off. He had barely been driving five minutes before his cell phone started ringing again.

"Stabler," he answered.

"Elliot," came the female reply. Her voice was weak and seemed strained by tears.

"Liv," he said. He could tell she was crying and had already started turning the car around when she said,

"I don't want to be alone tonight."

"I'll be right there," he answered, pressing the gas pedal.

He knocked on her apartment door and called, "Liv, it's me. Open up."

He heard the locks click and turned the handle, letting himself in. He closed the door and bolted it shut, putting the chain on as well. He turned and saw her standing with her arms wrapped tightly around herself and tears streaming down her face.

He pulled her gently into a hug, trying his best to soothe her. Slowly, she began to relax in his embrace. Her sobs ceased and her breathing slowed. When he was sure she had stopped crying, he pulled back and said, "Why don't you go to bed, ok?" She nodded and he followed to tuck her in.

She nearly collapsed onto the bed, pure exhaustion completely taking over. Her eyes closed the second her head hit the pillow.

He pulled the covers up to her shoulders and kissed her lightly on the forehead, pushing her hair off her face, just as he had at the hospital.

"I'll be on the couch if you need anything," he whispered. She nodded ever so slightly, not even bothering to open her eyes. "Goodnight, Liv," he said, closing the door behind him.

He sat down on the couch and took off his shoes, than laid back and fell asleep in his jeans and t-shirt.

He woke up an hour later with a jolt. The TV was on and Olivia sat at the other end of the couch, her legs pulled tightly to her chest and her head resting on her knees. She looked to be intensely fighting off sleep, constantly struggling to keep her eyes open.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"Nightmares," she said, shivering as if the very word brought bad memories.

"Of what?" he asked, knowing perfectly well 'of what'. He just wanted her to talk about it.

"Every time I close my eyes what happened plays over and over in my head like a horror movie, where you can't stop screaming and you can't turn it off either. Only it's real, and in my dreams he…I'm…raped. And what if he had? Everything would change. I couldn't do my job anymore, and everyone would look at me differently and treat me differently, because they'd know what happened to me."

"But he _didn't_ rape you," Elliot said firmly.

He saw the tears streaming down her face, and he knew she was beyond the realm of the comfort of words. He wanted to help her, but he knew at the moment that all he could do for her was listen.

"I just want to sleep without seeing his face again. All I want right now is dreamless sleep, and it's the one thing I can't get, and I'm just so tired." She began to sob quietly.

"You want to go lay back down in your room and try to sleep again?" he asked gently, sitting up.

She shook her head no. "It's too dark in there," she said quietly. She was shivering now, and he could see her trying to shake her head to keep her eyes open.

He turned himself on the couch to where he was facing the TV and propped his feet up no the coffee table. He then took the remote from her and turned the TV off.

"Come here," he said, putting one of the pillows from the couch on his lap and pulling a blanket off the top of the couch. She laid her head on the pillow and he covered her with the blanket. She stopped shivering at once, but she was still tense and fighting sleep.

"It's ok," he said, draping one arm around her and using the other to rub her hair. He drew her close so that she would feel protected. "You're safe now," he whispered.

She reached up and grabbed his hand, clasping it tightly while he continued to rub her hair with the other. Finally she began to relax and Elliot felt her drift off to sleep.

He continued to hold her tight, in an effort to ward off anymore nightmares that might threaten her slumber. Never again would he leave her alone or unprotected. Never again.


End file.
